


The Tragedy of Gentle Giants

by Panda_danna



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-11
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2017-12-29 03:27:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1000324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panda_danna/pseuds/Panda_danna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shingeki no Kyojin fan fiction</p><p> </p><p>Characters: titan!Marco, Jean and others.</p><p>Warnings: may contain violence, strong language and crazy titan shifters theories.</p><p>Beta-ed by wonderful dreamsandpocky</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Marco didn't know what had happened to him. He couldn't remember. He felt pain in his right side and consuming rage growing inside him, burning anger and hatred toward every single living thing. That was something Marco hadn't experienced before.

He tried to focus on something else instead. He didn't want to listen to the voice telling him to smash and kill. Marco had never wanted to cause others pain. For the first time after he had regained consciousness he tried to stand up from the ground and maybe get to the safety. However, he hit his head unexpectedly and suddenly stones and wooden planks were falling around him.

Marco panicked. Dust got into his eyes and blinded him temporarily. Instincts warned him that he was vulnerable and easy prey at that moment. He expected a titan to catch him any time, but nothing happened. He wanted to call for help, but instead, a terrifying roar left his throat and it scared him even more. When his vision finally cleared, Marco cried out again, this time in shock. Everything around him was suddenly smaller, or had he got taller instead? Why the streets became narrow and houses so tiny?

All of that, previously strange, anger was now gone and Marco was left with nothing but confusion. He didn't calm down even after he realized that the titans were not attacking him. He still needed to find his way to the Wall or find a place to hide.

 

Jean was desperate. He had lost count of the people they had left behind that day. So many of them were gone. Marco, his best friend, had disappeared too. Jean was given clear orders to act as bait and keep the titan's away from the gate, but his mind was constantly returning to his friend. Marco might have been injured or his 3DMG could have been destroyed. Something bad might have happened to him and he was all alone now. And, to be honest, this was as important as that brat Jeager sealing the hole in the Wall.

However, before Jean could decide if he was going to disobey a direct order and search for Marco, he spotted a titan approaching from his left side. Jean knew what to do, he was master in using 3DMG. He bent his legs, shifted his position, shot the iron wire toward a fourth floor house and suddenly he was flying in a different direction. However, not exactly in the course he wanted or by his own choice.

Time seemed to slow down, yet Jean was sure everything was happening in a fast pace. He saw a giant hand swinging through air, one of the wires incised in the bloodied palm, and it thrown him uncontrollably toward the sky. The world was suddenly upside down and what seemed to be waiting for him was an open mouth of an ugly looking titan.

_No, no, no, I can't die yet. Not yet, god._ Jean thought and desperately tried to gain his balance back and get away. The titan's teeth chattered and the creature pulled the wire toward the ground.

_I am dead._

But then, before he hit the ground, before he could turn into a pile of flesh, broken bones and lost hopes, something had caught him. The impact still took away his breath, a sharp pain cut through his back, but he was alive.

Jean felt a moment of gratitude toward whatever had saved his life, but then he realised what it was. Another titan! Giant fingers formed a firm cage around Jean, and before he could even curse, he was completely immobilized without a chance to escape from the titan's palm.

_They’re not going to fight over me, are they?_

Had it been a different situation, Jean might have felt flattered by the idea. However, the titan that had caught him simply started running away from the first one, soon leaving it far behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shingeki no Kyojin fan fiction
> 
> Part 2/?
> 
> Characters: titan!Marco, Jean and others.
> 
> Warnings: may contain violence, strong language and crazy titan shifters theories.
> 
> Beta-ed by: wonderful dreamsandpocky

Jean’s heart was racing, pumping adrenaline through his veins. He had no idea what the titan wanted to do with him, but he had a gut feeling he had met an aberrant which preferred to eat his dinner in some silent corner without being disturbed by other monsters.

 _I just need to wait a little longer. I’ll escape as soon as it opens its hands._  Jean kept telling himself, quickly plotting an escape plan. Then, the titan finally stopped.

Jean waited and when his cage started opening, he jumped forward, cutting the fingers around him with his blades.

Hot blood splashed all over him and then he heard that cry. It didn’t sound as a furious titan preparing to smash him. The cry was full of pain, the creature behind him sounded so hurt Jean started feeling sorry for it for a moment.

 **"Je—-a—-n."**  Marco sobbed holding his injured hand closer to himself. He had no idea why would Jean wanted to hurt him. They were friends. Childhood friends! He even saved him from that monster a few minutes ago and took him to safety. Why would Jean cut him so badly all of sudden?

Marco wanted to tell Jean many things, for a moment he wanted to swear at him.However, in the end Marco only managed to say simple words:  **"Hu—-uuu—-rts."**

The young man stopped in the middle of his planned escape.

Jean could swear on his mother’s life that even his heart stopped for few long seconds. His legs refused to move forward, but he was afraid to look behind. The voice he had heard was rough, yet he recognized it. Damn it, he even recognized that painful tone. This was how Marco had used to call for his help when they were still children and he got bullied in their home village.

_This can’t be… God, don’t let it be him. Don’t let it be Marco._

Jean heard his name being called again by the titan and it took all his courage to turn around. He did so slowly, carefully, preparing himself for whatever there was to see.

Still, when he saw the black ruffled hair, the hazel eyes, although framed with dark circles, and a face covered with freckles, his legs gave in. Jean hit the ground hard, but still didn’t feel any physical pain. Inside, his soul was being torn apart into thousands little pieces, each of them carrying a memory from his life spent side by side with Marco.

 **"Je—-a-n,"** The titan called his name again and Jean’s heart clenched, filled with strange feeling of betrayal and relief at the same time. The titans, they were always enemies of humankind, but no matter what, the creature in front of him was Marco. And, more importantly, he was alive.

Marco heard Jean whisper his name. He reached out for his friend with his good hand and softly patted him on head with a finger.

 **"Je—a-n. A—-r—-ri-ght?"**  He asked and then smiled when he saw Jean had nodded. They were once again together. Marco was sure everything would be fine from now on.


	3. Chapter 3

Jean had thousands questions for Marco, but every time he asked one, the only response he got was his name and Marco's happy smile. 

 **"For all the stones in the Wall, can you turn back into a human?!"** He finally raised his voice in frustration, but it didn't seem that shouting at Marco would make him talk.

Yet, they didn't have the luxury of time to try and figure out what could force Marco to become human again and Jean was very well aware of this.

Maybe Marco would protect him from the hungry giants again, but could he protect Marco from humans? Jean, for some reason, doubted that he would be given the chance to speak for his comrade (now caught in the form of a titan). However, what he didn't doubt at all was that his gentle giant Marco was easy prey for the soldiers.

Once again Marco looked hurt and sad. Until that moment, Jean hadn't thought that something from a category of cannibalistic monsters could look as emotional as this big pile of sadness.

 **"You are different from other titans, aren't you?"** Jean finally gave up and shook his head.

 

 **"We need to get you away from Trost."** The young soldier decided (and it wasn't an easy decision). Were the authorities to realise what had happened to Marco, they would want to dispose of him. One Jaeger was probably enough of a bother for the officers.

 **"Stay low."** , Jean said while he checked his 3DMG and then, when the realisation hit him, he chuckled darkly. One does usually not ask a 14 metre class titan to stay low. 

Jean tried his best to remember the plan of the town. With Jaeger sealing the hole in the Wall, the only possible way out for Marco was with the river. It flowed through the giant bars, pass the Wall, and although Jean didn't know whether they will be able to open the passage or not, they had to at least try. 

They sneaked through different streets. Jean occasionally used his 3DMG to check if the roads were safe from both titans and soldiers. Still, even with the road ahead of them clear, every loud sound made Jean's heart stop for a moment.

 _This is not good for my health,_ he thought and prayed to whoever was listening up there that they would make it to their destination without being noticed.

 

Finally, the watergate was just a street away from them. The only thing left to do was to lift the bars. The garrison must have fled at the beginning of the battle, leaving the base unsecured. Jean couldn't thank them enough, even though it took him few long minutes before he understood the mechanism which was used to open the passageway. 

At last the bars began rising with a loud screeching noise as the water from a penstock started filling the weights. Once again, Jean left for the street.  Barely a few seconds passed before all hell broke loose again.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Marco watched the huge bars with interest and pondered why Jean would take him to this place. When he couldn’t think of any reasonable answer, he gave up and turned his attention to his injured hand.

His fingers were slowly growing back from bloodied stubs; bones, meat and skin all in the same time, and it tickled him a little.

The barely audible sound of something quick coming toward him got lost in the screeching of the bars rising up. At the last moment, Marco glimpsed a movement on his left side and it was only because he turned after it that he didn’t get his head cut off.

Instead the sharp blades slid through his cheek and left him with a side of his jaw hanging down. Once again, a hot blood splashed everywhere and Marco cried out in pain.

Jean was jumping from the last step, when he got splashed by blood. Though a dirty uniform was last on his list of troubles. His feet slipped on so much red that he lost his balance. Jean fell hard on the ground, hitting the back of his head on the steps.

Everything went black for a few seconds before he started seeing stars. A little crackling noise still resonated through his skull, and when he was able to see again, he had a terrifying view of a soldier coming toward Marco. Marco, who was not putting up a fight, but was just trying to avoid the soldier, was only injuring himself more and more.

**"GET BEHIND THE WALL!"**  Jean shouted and he sounded more desperate than angry. He got his friend so far, he couldn’t let him be killed. Not now. Not ever. Jean got on his knees, and it was enough to make him nauseated. Still he tried to stand up, using the wall and his swords as a support.

**"GET OUT MARCO! RUN!"**

Jean’s head was spinning, the whole world was spinning, yet he still saw the soldier raising his hand up with a signal gun, probably trying to shoot the red smoke. That would be most likely their end. Jean shot the wires and jumped forward.

He heard Marco cry, but he didn’t want to look at him.

Jean never fought a man while using 3DMG. He had never thought he would have to do so. And it was so much worse than fighting a titan. Jean knew the soldier was shouting at him. He understood the words and insults with which the man bombarded him.  The man called him a traitor and it didn’t matter to Jean at that time. A few times their wires almost got tangled, driving them both towards their death in a neck-breaking fall, before they would avoid bloodied ground and walls at the last possible moments. Their blades shimmered in the afternoon sun and the sound of their clashing would keep ringing in Jean’s ears days after the battle of Trost.

And then, just when Jean thought that he won’t be able to fight for any longer, not even for Marco’s sake, one of his enemy’s wires, probably damaged in their previous fight, snapped and the man lost his balance.

Jean took the opportunity and once more swung his blades.

The terrified look in the soldier’s face before the sharp blades cut him nearly in half would keep Jean awake at night for a long time.

 

Jean got back to the ground and did his best to avoid looking at the dead body, which was now lying on a stone pavement in a growing puddle of blood.

He felt extremely sick and exhausted as the adrenalin rush started to wear off. The feeling of guilt, however, grew stronger.

The soldier’s blood was getting cold on Jean’s face. His hands were trembling and his stomach twisting inside him. This wasn’t what he had signed for. None of it.

Although Jean told himself he had to kill the man to save Marco’s life, his conscience wouldn’t stop screaming at him for being a murderer.

Jean finally gave up and vomited.

 When he had finally pulled himself together, Jean realised the unusual silence.  No one was stomping around or calling his name in relief.

**"Marco?"**  He asked and looked around. He saw nothing but a red trail leading toward the river. Marco was gone. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shingeki no Kyojin fan fiction
> 
> Part 5/?
> 
> Characters: titan!Marco, Jean, Hanji and Moblit.
> 
> Warning: contains violence, strong language and crazy titan shifters theories.
> 
> Beta-ed by: wonderful dreamsandpocky

 

 

The hole in the Wall was eventually sealed and the titans trapped within it, killed. Then came the time to attend to the injured and count the dead. And these weren’t happy days.

Jean stayed quiet, but this time no one from his squad was surprised. They all took Jean’s silence as a sign that he was mourning for Marco.

Marco, whose body had never been found.

Then the rumor broke out that there was a traitor among the Walls. A Story about a dead soldier’s body clean cut in half near the river spread silently among the soldiers. For few days everyone was cautious and oversensitive to the behavior of others. Accusations flew and Jean watched it with unease, waiting for the moment when the officers would come for him with whatever piece of evidence there had been left to arrest him.

But nothing like that happened. Suddenly the trial for Eren began and it inevitably drew the attention  of every soldier and officer in town.

Yet, Jean didn’t sleep any better as his nightmares stayed faithfully with him. What also never disappeared was Jean’s urge to find out the truth about Marco.

—-

Marco wandered aimlessly across the land. The wounds he suffered in Trost healed days ago and only a dull ache somewhere inside him was left. He missed Jean so badly that sometimes he tried to call for him, but somehow his voice always lured titans and then he had to run.

With each escape, the truth became more and more inevitable. For the first time in years Marco was alone and on his own and that feeling was terrifying.

Without any means to mark the time on his way from the hell itself to nowhere in particular, Marco sometimes felt as if he was lost in eternity. Days were dragging on and so were nights. He tried to occupy himself with memories, but no matter how often or how long he kept repeating the names of his friends in his head, they stillcontinued to fade away. Faces, first crystal clear, started to blur one by one as the days passed.

However, the terror remained and one day Marco felt the madness from Trost returning to him, the rage and hate, alien to his remaining consciousness, yet strangely familiar to the body in which he was trapped.

Then came days when Marco would run, not to escape from titans, but from the thing that he had become.

——

When squad leader Hanji received permission to undertake a mission to capture a titan, she was over the moon. For a long time she had hoped for an opportunity to gain a subject for her experiments, which would allow her to uphold her theories.

Preparations quickly took place and the group moved before sunrise from the Scouting legion’s base toward wilderness. They moved in a pace that limited light allowed them, seeking the silhouettes of titans on the plains. Hanji was certain they could capture at least 5 metre class titan without any casualties, but she was to be proved wrong in the next few hours.

They had been scouting the plains without any success for a long time, few of the soldiers started to lose their morale in the process. Then a titan’s silhouette was spotted on the right wing of their small formation and they turned toward its’ direction preparing for the encounter. Hanji was excited.

No one would expect a scientist so devoted to his subject, as was Hanji, to back from the route they had set for themselves. Yet panic ran through the group when the first soldier realised that the titan was much bigger than they first expected him to be.

 **“For all the stones in the Wall, thats a fifteen meter class! We need to retreat!”**  Shouted Hanji’s second in command, but Hanji, fascinated by what she saw, didn’t listen.

The titan was sitting on the ground, obviously occupied by playing with a stray dog. It was tossing the smallest possible branch of tree it was able to pick up and, though it was too big, the dog always tried and fetched it back to the titan.

Hanji stopped her horse, and so did the rest of their squad (though in a much safer distance from the titan). However, no matter how far from the titan they all stood, the sight still burned itself into their memories. The titan was smiling. And, it wasn’t a mischievous smile like they all had seen at least one time in their life before someone from their friends was eaten.

No, the monster in front of them seemed to be genuinely happy.

Then Hanji finally squeaked due to the excitement she could no longer contain. **“It’s so cute! Can I keep it? Erwin won’t believe this!”**

Moblit tried to silence his leader so they would remain unnoticed, but he was too late. The titan turned its’ head, distracted from its game by Hanji’s voice, and observed them all.

They all felt extremely small and extremely in danger, but surprisingly nothing happened to them. The titan opened its mouth as if it was trying to speak. And Hanji waited, fists clenched in hope that this creature would say something to her. However, no sound came out of the titan and, once again, it shut its mouth and kept staring at the soldiers in silence.

 **"This is really strange, squad leader. We should probably retreat.”**  Moblit tried again without any succes. Hanji had already decided.

**"Let’s take it home."**


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry, that it took me so long to post this chapter. Hopefully you will enjoy it.  
> I would also welcome any constructive criticism and feedback from you guys! 
> 
> Big thanks to dreamsandpocky for beta-ing this chapter. She is wonderful.

***

 

Jean was on his way back from a field exercise with the rest of the rookies who had joined the Scouting legion after battle of Trost. It was almost end of the day and they were all tired, covered in terrible unidentifiable substances and only a little curious whether squad leader Hanji succeeded on her mission or not. Same went for their horses.

The first thing they saw when they had entered the base, was commander Smith marching across the yard in full gear, Levi at his heels deadly as always, and just a meter behind them Hanji was making her way with a furious expression.

 **"I won’t let anyone hurt it! We can’t just break its’ trust, Erwin!”**  She shouted, but it was Levi who stopped and turned to face the scientist (which could be seen as a brave deed because Hanji looked ready to conduct experiments on everyone who would dare to hurt whatever she had discovered and brought back.)

Jean suddenly got a very bad feeling about it all.

 **"And you think you can fucking break the trust of our soldiers?"**  Levi asked, already caught in a staring contest with Hanji. "Fucking fifteen meter class and you bring it here without any precaution."

 **"Are you deaf you little bas…"**  Hanji started and the rookies watched in disbelief atwhat was going on in front of them. Finally commander Erwin acknowledged their presence and stopped both of his ready-to-kill-each-other subordinates with a simple: **"Enough!"**

Armin could swear that commander Erwin would stop the world from spinning only with his voice if he decided to do so, but obviously it wasn’t enough to completely silence Hanji who was probably a nature force on her own.

**"Erwin listen, it didn’t hurt any of my soldiers. It won’t hurt anyone else. It’s friendly!"**

Anyone who was quick enough to follow the angry conversation must have thought that Hanji went completely crazy. There were no friendly titans in their world.

But Jean knew better. The feeling of uneasiness which was growing somewhere behind his chest bone spread through his body like a cancer until it finally consumed rest of his self-control and he turned his horse around and rushed forth.

Jean’s unexpected departure surprised not only the rookies, but rest of the commandas well. However, the older soldiers were quick to act and before Eren was able to ask something stupid along the lines of “what among the Walls is that Horseface thinking?”, Levi and Hanji got to their horses and followed the boy.

It took Jean only a few minutes to figure out where Hanji could have temporary stored her “findings” and the echo of soldiers’ voices also did its part in helping him finding the place rather quickly.

Jean rushed between the guards like a storm and stopped his horse just before it accidentally knocked one of them down. He paid no attention to the commotion he had caused among the men, he could only focus on the titan in front of him.

Of course it was Marco, patiently waiting for whatever was to come with a stupid smile on his giant’s face. Jean was angry. He risked so much to get his friend from Trost, he even killed a man for his sake and now all his attempts to protect that stupid face of his had gone in vain.

Hanji and Levi both stopped their horses right next to him and he heard Levi shouting something insignificant and Hanji asking him question. It wasn’t important.

There was nothing more he could do for Marco now. Especially if Hanji got her hands on him as on a scientific subject; a subject who still wasn’t confirmed by commander Erwin.

It was despair and rage which started to built up in Jean, flooding his all body with a murderous urge.

And then Marco turned his head and he smiled even more when he saw Jean. He still didn’t know why he had abandoned him at the first place, but now his friend was back.

 **“J-ea-rrr-n”**  He tried to greet his comrade and to move toward him, but all of the soldiers started shouting and getting among trees, some of them even aiming their swords at Marco.

Jean couldn’t take it any longer. The things he was seeing, he was sure it was all heading toward a bloody catastrophe. Even though Hanji was trying to stop them, shocked and excited at the same time, that she had found a talking titan, Jean knew they would kill Marco before she would be able to restore her authority over panicking soldiers. And then he himself would be hanged as a traitor and a murderer because Marco had called his name. Of course, before his execution he would have to answer questions and the story from Trost would become clear. There was no way out of this.

Jean saw one of the soldiers fly toward Marco and he shouted  **"Run!"**  so his titan friend would stop standing there like an idiot he was. It was like in Trost again for the two of them, but before Jean could do anything, he’d seen a glimpse of Levi’s fist coming from right before he suffered a blow. It took him by surprise, knocking him down from his horse. For a moment, Jean thought that his nose has been broken, but it didn’t matter. That pain, short, but intense, started something terrible inside him. And, there was no way to stop it.

His humanity ruptured and crumbled and all his rage and anger washed over him.


	7. Chapter 7

 

Erwin knew that things were going downhill in a speed he could no longer control. Since Hanji brought the titan back with her, he could hear the sound of a roaring avalanche coming their way ready to sweep them all. Private Kirchstein and his sudden escape from the base after the rookies witnessed the argument between his officers was a first sign.

There were orders to shout before he could follow Hanji and Levi in their pursuit, but Erwin still made it to the place just in time to see what the avalanche looked like.

It was one of the soldiers flying toward the titan who, as much as it sounded unbelievable to Erwin, looked hurt and surprised at the same time. However, it was also Levi punching Kirchstein with such force that the boy fell from his horse and hit the ground with his nose all bloody.

For a few seconds Erwin could hear Hanji shouting orders, trying to stop the soldiers from attacking the titan, but then all sounds  were drowned in Kirchstein’s howl.

During his years in the Scouting Legion Erwin heard different shouts and screams, even cries, but nothing was like the sound the boy made.

This was despair and rage, blood curdling and a silent threat all in one. It was a sound much louder that human should be able to produce.

A few of the soldiers stopped and the more clever ones started to retreat. Levi got of his horse, his swords out. He must have been planning to cut Kirchstein in half, but he was too late.

Of course there have been theories about the existence of other titan shifters apart from Eren, but till that moment, there were all just unfounded speculation.

Out of the blue sky, literally out of the blue sky, came a white lightning. Later on Erwin thought that it maybe didn’t come from the sky, but from the boy himself. The blinding light was followed by a sound of hundred thunders and a pressure wave of hot air.

Levi, who was standing too close to Kirchstein, got swept and was sent flying for meters before he hit the ground and there he curled in pain. The other soldiers and their leaders were all standing in disbelief and fear. The titan in front of them didn’t have the friendly expression of the first one.

They all fought a vast number of this horrifying creatures, but never before they have seen a monster ready to protect another one with all its’ power and force.

No one dared to move.

**"Unbelievable. Amazing!"**  Hanji finally shouted and the world started spinning again.

The freckled titan, who looked scared as much as the soldiers around him shouted as well.  **"Je—-ar—n!"** It sounded more like a plea toward the taller beast, and it was heard.

The titans started to run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello ladies and gentlemen,  
> here we got to the point, where I must admit what inspired the whole idea of the Tragedy of Gentle Giants. It was a picture by Scoutology and you can check it here : http://scoutology.tumblr.com/post/59750439054/the-boxer-titan-my-design-for-jean-titan-i
> 
> Love you all,  
> panda-danna


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